Mistwatch Mill
A few miles outside of Vallaki, surrounded by wooded hills and tucked against the mountainide, is a mill. Once a grain mill, it is now home to a coven of witches that serve Baba Lysaga, and Strahd.
Each crate is 3 feet square. Two of the crates contain a captive child. The outward-facing side of each crate is fitted with a small door that has an iron latch and iron hinges. It can be unlatched and opened easily from the outside. The two captured children, one seven year old boy and one four year old girl, were taken from the village of Barovia weeks before in exchange for dream pastries. If freed, the boy will refuse to go home to his parents, and will ask that the players not to send the girl back either.
The bird cages are stuffed to the brim with at least seven magpies each. The birds are being fattened up, as are the children, and the floor is littered with crumbs and scraps of old meat.
The Old Svalich Road transitions here from being a winding path through the Balinok Mountains to a lazy trail that hugs the mountainside as it descends into a fog-filled valley. In the heart of the valley you see a walled town near the shores of a great mountain lake, its waters dark and still. A branch in the road leads west to a promontory, atop which is perched a dilapidated stone windmill, its warped wooden vanes stripped bare. The onion-domed edifice leans forward and to one side, as though trying to turn away from the stormy gray sky. You see gray brick walls and dirt-covered windows on the upper floors. A rickety wooden platform encircles the windmill above a flimsy doorway leading inside. On the step is a crooked chicken coop. Perched on a wooden beam above the door is a magpie. It hops about and screeches at you, seemingly agitated.The witches' primary job is to keep the Megaliths desecrated. They accomplish this, and further Canis's goal of misery, by use of the dream pastries. The primary ingredient in these "mincemeat pies" is magpies, and the crust is thickened with the bones of children. Every six months, they prepare a batch of pies, enough to feed at least 100 adults, which requires slaying dozens of magpies and at least three children. The rest of the year, they peddle their pies, asking exorbitant prices until the families of Barovia are destitute, and willing to barter their own children for a pie. The birds the witches catch are caged in the top of the mill. The children are kept there also, chained to the wall. The witches fatten the children up with the birds (and vice versa) until it's time to make the pies. There is one child they are grooming to become a witch herself, as happened to Bella years ago. The witches are no more ugly or beautiful than anyone else in Barovia. There is still one mother, Morgantha, and two adult daughters, Bella and Ophelia.
O1. Ground Floor
The ground floor has been converted into a makeshift kitchen, but it is filthy. Baskets and dishware are piled everywhere. Adding to the clutter is a peddler's cart, a heavy wooden trunk, and a pretty wooden cabinet with flowers painted on the doors. The sweet smell of pastries blends horribly with a stench that burns. The awful odor comes from an open, upright barrel at one end of the room. Warmth issues from a brick oven against one wall, and a crumbling staircase ascends the wall across from it.Baking in the oven are a dozen dream pastries, which Morgantha checks every 10 minutes. The barrel contains greenish-black demonic ichor. Morgantha can use the barrel as a font for scrying, or to summon a dretch. It will crawl out of the barrel at the end of her turn, and obey her commands for 1 hour, after which it dissolves into a puddle of ichor. Morgantha's cabinet contains wooden bowls full of herbs and baking ingredients, including flour, sugar, and several gourds of powerded bone. Hanging on the inside of the cabinet doors are several dozen locks of hair. The wooden trunk contains piles and piles of clothes of various sizes, and several sacks of black feathers.
O2. Bone Mill
The dirt-caked windows allow very little light to enter this eight-foot-high chamber, most of which is taken up by a large millstone connected to a wooden gear shaft that rises through the ceiling in the center of the room. A ragged-looking rocking chair is pushed up against the wall under the north window. A stone staircase continues up into the dust.Unless she has been encountered elsewhere, Morgantha can be found here. This is where she grinds children's bones to make the power for her dream pastries. However, it's not time for grinding at the moment. The millstone must be operated manually, since the arms of the windmill are no longer functional.
O3. Bedroom
In the center of this cramped circular room is a thick wooden gear shaft. Three beds are shoved against the walls, nearly piled on top of each other in the small space. Piles of discarded clothes are thrown in front of a dusty wooden closet. A ladder climbs to a wooden trapdoor in the nine-foot-high ceiling.The witches sleep here when they're not baking or selling their pies.
O4. Attic
You've reached the windomill's peak--a domed chamber filled with old machinery. There's not much room to move around, and what little there is occupied with three crates on the ground, and large bird cages hanging from the ceiling. Light slips into the attic through small holes in the wall.
Each crate is 3 feet square. Two of the crates contain a captive child. The outward-facing side of each crate is fitted with a small door that has an iron latch and iron hinges. It can be unlatched and opened easily from the outside. The two captured children, one seven year old boy and one four year old girl, were taken from the village of Barovia weeks before in exchange for dream pastries. If freed, the boy will refuse to go home to his parents, and will ask that the players not to send the girl back either.
The bird cages are stuffed to the brim with at least seven magpies each. The birds are being fattened up, as are the children, and the floor is littered with crumbs and scraps of old meat.
Type
Mill
Included Locations